Football

All-American Watch...

Armour Emerges As Butkus Candidate

Senior weakside linebacker Anthony Armour, who has been
included among the list of preseason candidates for the Butkus Award
given by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Fla. to the nation's
outstanding collegiate linebacker, recorded five tackles, two tackles
for loss and a quarterback sack at Kansas State. He has 199 total
tackles in his career, including 14 for loss and six sacks.

The list will be trimmed to 10 semifinalists on Oct. 17 and the
three finalists will be announced on Nov. 14. Armour, a graduate of
Dallas' Carter High School, is starting at has third position at
Texas Tech during his career. Last season he led the defensive line
with 55 tackles at the end position and caused three fumbles. He
redshirted 1994 after undergoing knee surgery following a sophomore
season in which he was 10th in the SWC in tackles with 91 at outside
linebacker.

Hanspard 30 Yards From Surpassing Donny Anderson

Junior Byron Hanspard entered the 1996 season with an
opportunity to become one of college football's most sensational
runners and contend for the Doak Walker Award and the Heisman Trophy.
He didn't hurt his cause with 115 yards in just three quarters of
play before suffering a sprained ankle and sitting out the fourth
quarter. He is just 30 yards from passing former Red Raider great
Donny Anderson on the Tech career rushing charts (page 4).

The junior from DeSoto is the third-leading returning scorer in
the nation this season, after averaging 9.82 points per game last
season. A preseason All-America selection, Hanspard averaged 223
yards per game in his final three games of last season, including 260
yards against Air Force in the Copper Bowl, where he was named the
game's MVP. He rushed for 1,374 yards last season, the second-best
sophomore performance in the Southwest Conference's 82-year history.
He also led the team with 35 catches for 474 yards.

Junior quarterback Zebbie Lethridge has quietly emerged as one
of the top signal-callers in the nation, if not the most
electrifying. The Lubbock native is already listed among the
top-five on the school charts for carer passing yards, pass attempts,
pass completions, total offense and TD passes. Last year he set a
final Southwest Conference record with 211 consecutive passes without
an interception, which will stand as the all-time SWC mark. Last
season Lethridge recorded the most prolific sophomore season ever for
a Red Raider with 1,885 passing yards, 22 total TDs and 2,022 yards
in total offense.

Starting junior flanker Stacy Mitchell, who stands 5-5,
150-pounds, is the third smallest player in Division I football this
season. The DeSoto native is also a key kickoff returner for the Red
Raiders and is a major threat on the ground after the catch.
Mitchell overcame an early-season sprained ankle last season,
starting the final five games and catching a 47-yard pass against
Texas, and a 38-yard TD against Air Force in the Copper Bowl He also
had a 49-yard run on a reverse against Rice. Mitchell recorded three
catches for 69 yards against Kansas State.